Serious Problems
Hi,
I had a band for almost 5 years. I was banded in 2003 and it was revised to a VSG in 2008. It was the best decision I ever made. These were some of my complications:
dysphagia
pseudo achalasia of the esophagus
band slippage
concentric slip and partial prolapse
hematoma and scar tissue development on other organs
esophageal dilation
pouch dilation
spitting up blood due to chronic reflux even with an empty band
permanent esophageal damage.
Luckily I had insurance that covered complications, fills and unfills (had 14 of those over 5 years). When I changed states and relocated and changed insurance, the new insurance company did not want to pay for removal or revision and told me if I went to the emergency room and were spewing blood, they would not pay to remove my band even if it was a medical emergency. I sat with an almost empty band for 1 and a half years and regained 70 pounds. I also remained on liquids for one month or longer 3 different times to see if the slip would resolve.
I loved my band when it worked, but my complications were in the 3rd year so any one year post op complication wouldnt have been covered anyway.
Dont get a band.
Babs
I had a band for almost 5 years. I was banded in 2003 and it was revised to a VSG in 2008. It was the best decision I ever made. These were some of my complications:
dysphagia
pseudo achalasia of the esophagus
band slippage
concentric slip and partial prolapse
hematoma and scar tissue development on other organs
esophageal dilation
pouch dilation
spitting up blood due to chronic reflux even with an empty band
permanent esophageal damage.
Luckily I had insurance that covered complications, fills and unfills (had 14 of those over 5 years). When I changed states and relocated and changed insurance, the new insurance company did not want to pay for removal or revision and told me if I went to the emergency room and were spewing blood, they would not pay to remove my band even if it was a medical emergency. I sat with an almost empty band for 1 and a half years and regained 70 pounds. I also remained on liquids for one month or longer 3 different times to see if the slip would resolve.
I loved my band when it worked, but my complications were in the 3rd year so any one year post op complication wouldnt have been covered anyway.
Dont get a band.
Babs
ASMBS: Gastric Banding Gets Low Marks
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASMBS/20919
LAS VEGAS -- Adjustable gastric banding achieves only modest weight loss, and even that benefit deteriorates over time in most patients, a Dutch surgeon said here.
Five years after surgery, about two thirds of patients maintained 25% excess weight loss. At 10 years the success rate dropped to less than a third (31%).
Using 40% excess weight loss as the standard resulted in a five-year success rate of about 50%, which declined to 20% at 10 years, Edo Aarts, MD, reported at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery meeting.
Control of obesity-related comorbid conditions deteriorated similarly over time.
"If you perform adjustable gastric banding, you must realize that this is not the final solution, most of the time, for your patients," said Aarts, of Rijnstate Hospital, Amhem, The Netherlands.
Reviewing the history of adjustable gastric banding, Aarts noted that initial results were encouraging when the procedure was introduced in the early 1990s. Gastric banding achieved good results with respect to excess weight loss and was associated with a low risk of morbidity and mortality.
The five-year results have been mixed, as some studies showed durable weight loss and others deterioration of initial benefits. Because of the procedure's relatively recent introduction, little information has accumulated regarding the long-term results with adjusted gastric banding, Aarts said.
Rijnstate Hospital has the most active bariatric surgery program in The Netherlands, he continued. Surgeons perform more than 800 procedures annually, and more than 3,000 patients have undergone laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.
Aarts and colleagues evaluated results in 201 patients who had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedures during 1995 to 2003. All the patients had rigorous follow-up at three-month intervals during the first year and then annually thereafter. As a result, 99% of the patients had complete follow-up data, which spanned an average of 9.6 years.
The patients had a mean baseline age of 37, and women accounted for three fourths of the cohort. Baseline body mass index averaged 46 kg/m2, and 20% of the patients met the definition of super obese. Excess body weight averaged 83 kg.
Using excess weight loss >25% to define treatment success, Aarts and colleagues found that adjustable gastric banding was successful in about 80% of patients during the first three years, followed thereafter by a steady decline to 64% at 5 years and 31% at 10 years.
When treatment success was defined as band in place and excess weight loss >40%, the success rate was 70% at one year, 64% at three years, 50% at five years, and 20% at 10 years.
A third of patients had undergone reoperation after five years, increasing to 53% at 10 years. The incidence of band removal increased from 0.5% at one year to 11% at five years and 35% at 10 years. Conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass accounted for half of all reoperations.
Control of diabetes, hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease all deteriorated significantly (P<0.01) over time. In particular, the incidence of new-onset diabetes and hypertension increased during follow-up, as did the proportion of patients requiring acid-suppression therapy.
On the basis of the results, surgeons at the Dutch center have begun to re-evaluate their use of adjustable gastric banding for treatment of obesity. What role, if any, the procedure will play in the future has yet to be determined, said Aarts.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASMBS/20919
LAS VEGAS -- Adjustable gastric banding achieves only modest weight loss, and even that benefit deteriorates over time in most patients, a Dutch surgeon said here.
Five years after surgery, about two thirds of patients maintained 25% excess weight loss. At 10 years the success rate dropped to less than a third (31%).
Using 40% excess weight loss as the standard resulted in a five-year success rate of about 50%, which declined to 20% at 10 years, Edo Aarts, MD, reported at the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery meeting.
Control of obesity-related comorbid conditions deteriorated similarly over time.
"If you perform adjustable gastric banding, you must realize that this is not the final solution, most of the time, for your patients," said Aarts, of Rijnstate Hospital, Amhem, The Netherlands.
Reviewing the history of adjustable gastric banding, Aarts noted that initial results were encouraging when the procedure was introduced in the early 1990s. Gastric banding achieved good results with respect to excess weight loss and was associated with a low risk of morbidity and mortality.
The five-year results have been mixed, as some studies showed durable weight loss and others deterioration of initial benefits. Because of the procedure's relatively recent introduction, little information has accumulated regarding the long-term results with adjusted gastric banding, Aarts said.
Rijnstate Hospital has the most active bariatric surgery program in The Netherlands, he continued. Surgeons perform more than 800 procedures annually, and more than 3,000 patients have undergone laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.
Aarts and colleagues evaluated results in 201 patients who had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedures during 1995 to 2003. All the patients had rigorous follow-up at three-month intervals during the first year and then annually thereafter. As a result, 99% of the patients had complete follow-up data, which spanned an average of 9.6 years.
The patients had a mean baseline age of 37, and women accounted for three fourths of the cohort. Baseline body mass index averaged 46 kg/m2, and 20% of the patients met the definition of super obese. Excess body weight averaged 83 kg.
Using excess weight loss >25% to define treatment success, Aarts and colleagues found that adjustable gastric banding was successful in about 80% of patients during the first three years, followed thereafter by a steady decline to 64% at 5 years and 31% at 10 years.
When treatment success was defined as band in place and excess weight loss >40%, the success rate was 70% at one year, 64% at three years, 50% at five years, and 20% at 10 years.
A third of patients had undergone reoperation after five years, increasing to 53% at 10 years. The incidence of band removal increased from 0.5% at one year to 11% at five years and 35% at 10 years. Conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass accounted for half of all reoperations.
Control of diabetes, hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease all deteriorated significantly (P<0.01) over time. In particular, the incidence of new-onset diabetes and hypertension increased during follow-up, as did the proportion of patients requiring acid-suppression therapy.
On the basis of the results, surgeons at the Dutch center have begun to re-evaluate their use of adjustable gastric banding for treatment of obesity. What role, if any, the procedure will play in the future has yet to be determined, said Aarts.
I am seeing some posts trying to imply that the only people who have band complications bring them on themselves, which is not borne out by medical papers or statistics. While it's true that some slips are caused by bands that are too tight, indeed probably the majority, not all are. There are other issues with the band, the port and tubing as well.
When my surgeon went in to do my revision, my band was literally shredding, coming apart, with the edges shredded, embedded in pieces in my stomach wall. Not sure how anything a person could have eaten or done would have caused that, but I do understand how someone who is defending their choice might need to feel somehow that it is really someone's fault when there is a complication, rather than in the back of their mind realize that there is a very real chance this could happen inside their own body somewhere down the road. I agree - that's frightening and I might want not want to think it would ever happen too. I went into the band listening to the hype that it was safer too.
I was also a model band patient. Ended up with esophageal spasms and damage, lost enamel on my teeth, and it goes on and on. I nearly died.
There is a lot of misinformation coming from a few vocal people, not supported by any science. My second slip occurred with no fluid in the band for several years. But even aside from the very real fact that the band complications long-term are so very high, the fact that the ASBMS is finding long-term results not good speaks volumes. I think it's possible 10-15 years from now, we will no longer see banding done in any great number because it simply as not as effective in terms of both short and long-term loss. Kind of like the old vertical banded gastroplasties.
I'm glad to see some people speaking out about their experiences so that people who are considering this surgery see both sides of the story, as well as the actual science and scientific papers, the truth, of the lack of efficacy and high complication rate inherent with this surgery. While some may say this is band-bashing, it's important for people to know the truth as they decide on a surgery, and hopefully not need re-operation. I think the band is truly DANGEROUS!
I also don't think there is anything wrong with recounting our own experiences, and yes - also our own opinions about a surgery. I see a lot of band patients on this forum stating that DS and RNY aren't safe, but the minute someone says that they don't feel banding is safe long-term, they are jumped on. Not sure why the double standard exists that it's fine for banding patients to be very vocal that they don't feel RNY and DS are safe, but not vice versa. They are opinions and we are all entitled to our own.
Re-operation rates with band are higher than with RNY. Indeed, while initially (first operation), the band may have a lower complication rate, as you go out many years, the scientific medical statistics are showing a much higher reoperation rate with adjustable gastric banding. Hopefully, as new people do real research, and investigate the band, both good and bad, they can make really informed choices for themselves.
While I am thrilled for the people who have been able to make the band work initially, I do worry about where they will be 10-15 years down the road. As a surgeon's daughter, and as someone who has had severe complications with the gastric band where the fault was with the actual make-up of the band, I worry about esophageal damage long-term for band patients, as well as perforation. I sure wouldn't want anyone to go through what a lot of people on this forum have gone through, since I'm not even near the only one. There are many of us. Mine was a little more extreme as my band started to actually shred and come apart in pieces, but this is a foreign object.
While proponents say they are worried about being hospitalized after DS or RNY, my experience is that I have been much healthier post RNY.
Band patients who might lose their insurance for any reason are at very very real risk for their health. With our economy the way it is, and the need for band patients to need constant ongoing care, even more so than post-op RNY and DS patients, if they lose their job, how are they supposed to pay for the constant fills, removals, etc. that banding requires for long-term success? God forbid they need re-operation and the chances are so likely in time they will.
I second Midwestern Girl when she says to these newly banded patients - Let's see you in 5-10 years. See how you like your band then.
When my surgeon went in to do my revision, my band was literally shredding, coming apart, with the edges shredded, embedded in pieces in my stomach wall. Not sure how anything a person could have eaten or done would have caused that, but I do understand how someone who is defending their choice might need to feel somehow that it is really someone's fault when there is a complication, rather than in the back of their mind realize that there is a very real chance this could happen inside their own body somewhere down the road. I agree - that's frightening and I might want not want to think it would ever happen too. I went into the band listening to the hype that it was safer too.
I was also a model band patient. Ended up with esophageal spasms and damage, lost enamel on my teeth, and it goes on and on. I nearly died.
There is a lot of misinformation coming from a few vocal people, not supported by any science. My second slip occurred with no fluid in the band for several years. But even aside from the very real fact that the band complications long-term are so very high, the fact that the ASBMS is finding long-term results not good speaks volumes. I think it's possible 10-15 years from now, we will no longer see banding done in any great number because it simply as not as effective in terms of both short and long-term loss. Kind of like the old vertical banded gastroplasties.
I'm glad to see some people speaking out about their experiences so that people who are considering this surgery see both sides of the story, as well as the actual science and scientific papers, the truth, of the lack of efficacy and high complication rate inherent with this surgery. While some may say this is band-bashing, it's important for people to know the truth as they decide on a surgery, and hopefully not need re-operation. I think the band is truly DANGEROUS!
I also don't think there is anything wrong with recounting our own experiences, and yes - also our own opinions about a surgery. I see a lot of band patients on this forum stating that DS and RNY aren't safe, but the minute someone says that they don't feel banding is safe long-term, they are jumped on. Not sure why the double standard exists that it's fine for banding patients to be very vocal that they don't feel RNY and DS are safe, but not vice versa. They are opinions and we are all entitled to our own.
Re-operation rates with band are higher than with RNY. Indeed, while initially (first operation), the band may have a lower complication rate, as you go out many years, the scientific medical statistics are showing a much higher reoperation rate with adjustable gastric banding. Hopefully, as new people do real research, and investigate the band, both good and bad, they can make really informed choices for themselves.
While I am thrilled for the people who have been able to make the band work initially, I do worry about where they will be 10-15 years down the road. As a surgeon's daughter, and as someone who has had severe complications with the gastric band where the fault was with the actual make-up of the band, I worry about esophageal damage long-term for band patients, as well as perforation. I sure wouldn't want anyone to go through what a lot of people on this forum have gone through, since I'm not even near the only one. There are many of us. Mine was a little more extreme as my band started to actually shred and come apart in pieces, but this is a foreign object.
While proponents say they are worried about being hospitalized after DS or RNY, my experience is that I have been much healthier post RNY.
Band patients who might lose their insurance for any reason are at very very real risk for their health. With our economy the way it is, and the need for band patients to need constant ongoing care, even more so than post-op RNY and DS patients, if they lose their job, how are they supposed to pay for the constant fills, removals, etc. that banding requires for long-term success? God forbid they need re-operation and the chances are so likely in time they will.
I second Midwestern Girl when she says to these newly banded patients - Let's see you in 5-10 years. See how you like your band then.
Most Active
Recent Topics
OH - why aren't my posts being approved? Did I do something wrong?
FluffyPuff · 2 replies · 1273 views
FluffyPuff · 2 replies · 1273 views
OH2023 National Conference: Early Bird Tickets On Sale For A Limited Time! SAVE $30!
Member Services · 0 replies · 1078 views
Member Services · 0 replies · 1078 views
